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Sunday, September 30, 2001

Compiled by Chris Dolack

Gil de Ferran, the defending CART champion, won his first race of 2001 last Sunday. He answered questions during a conference call Tuesday:

Gil de Ferran

Q: What has allowed you to remain in the championship race despite only one victory?

A: I think certainly as I've been working now for nearly two years with Team Penske our relationship has matured. I think we're working better together this year than we were last year. You know, we've been able to be more consistently fast than perhaps even last year. That to me, the fact that every weekend or every race weekend we've been most of the time in a position to fight for the win I think has been very pleasing to me.

Q: Do you believe that CART's success in Europe, Mexico and Japan, hampers American drivers from finding rides?

A: It's really hard for me to judge that. Let's put it this way, it would be good if Jeff Gordon was racing with us. I think that would be helpful. I think having a guy like him racing would certainly bring a lot of recognition and attention to our series, in the same way that when Nigel Mansell came over here from England as the Formula One world champion brought a lot of attention internationally to CART.

Q: How hard is it to defend a CART title?

A: I think the way I looked at it from the beginning of the year is that I wasn't really defending my title, I was trying to win another one. I know it sounds similar, but there is a difference there, because one puts you in a defensive sort of position. When you get in the car, even though you got the No. 1 on the car, you're faced with the same troubles. If you have a bad day, despite the fact you No. 1 written on the car, you end up outside of the top 10. That really drills it home. It's like, 'Okay, really you got to get your stuff together and try to win another one.'